What you need to know about QW+ 2.0
On Ocrober 30, 2023, Quote This Woman+ sent out an email to all the people who were already on our database, with individualised links to their new profiles. Below, we reproduce a slightly edited version of the text of the email, minus the links, for anyone who needs to know what the original information was.
We’re making some changes to the QW+ expert database.
We’ve updated T&Cs. We’re also updating expert profiles. And: we’re creating journalist profiles for experts to search, and allowing experts to search other expert profiles.
(There’s a full Q&A below if you have any questions.)
We also need you to give us permission to show your cell phone number on your profile, because we’ve dramatically improved our site security. (Please note, this isn’t compulsory).
While you’re there, we’ll be asking you to add a pic you like to go with your expert profile.
The success of QW+ 2.0 hinges on every expert logging in.
We’ve pre-populated your new profile with our current info to make your profile update easier.
Tip: To start, have a pic and your bio (and maybe a fresh cuppa) at hand.
If you have your bio and pic at hand, expect this process to take 7-10 minutes (probably longer if you do it on your mobile device). We know it’s hard to spare this in our time-driven economy; but our database depends on experts in even the most obscure fields (we see you, plant palaeontologists) making the time to complete this process.
If you haven’t logged in to confirm your profile by November 13, we’ll regretfully put you into our archive. Contact jordan@quotethiswoman.org.za or 081 243 6653 with any queries related to this process. If you can’t get hold of Jordan, Kath will do her best to try to help – WhatsApp her on 084 688 8980.
As always, if you know other amazing women+ experts that also belong on our database – do spread the word. Our new website is still www.quotethiswoman.org.za, and new experts can create a profile from there, directly on to QW+ 2.0.
So many thanks,
Kath, Jordan and Renee
Quote This Woman+ Tech Rebuild Q&A
Q: I’ve forgotten who Quote This Woman+ is.
A: QW+ is a media and gender non-profit from South Africa, working into Southern Africa (and beyond). Our work aims to bridge the gender gap in the media landscape because currently a woman is used as a news source only once for every four times that a man is. QW+ curates an expert database and uses this to link journalists with fab women+ experts on subjects from the green economy, to health, to finance, to law, to human rights.
Q: No journalist has contacted me since I joined the database, why should I bother creating a log in now?
A: Good question! There are two sides to this. One is that we as QW+ never know what issues will trend in the news, or which ones will take journalists’ fancy. So for example, do you know that the reason why we have women plant palaeontologists on our database is because we once had a media query asking for them, and we had to track them down to help out a journalist?
The other side is – while our database had poor tech, we spent a large portion of our human resources assisting journalists finding experts to talk to. If you migrate your profile to the new database, we hope to free up resources to work closer with experts who want to build better media profiles, and help them with this.
BONUS: The new database gives two new functionalities – YOU can search both experts and journalists, helping you collaborate in your expert community, and helping you reach out proactively to journalists to pitch story ideas to them – and we can help you with that 🙂
Q: Please explain why you are showing cell numbers on the new QW+ database?
A: Three reasons
- Our new database is secure. We did not display them in previous database iterations because of security risks. Our new platform has top-notch security. We’re confident we can ask you to put your cell phone on it without it being seen by people who do not have logins.
- Our people resources need this. Up to now, journalists have phoned QW+ staff for cell numbers of experts, because we’ve kept that list. We’ve needed to have people available 24/7 to answer journalist calls. NGO funding is too precarious for us to continue with that. Journalists need to be able to get cell numbers from the QW+ platform.
- Media people ask for this. It was the biggest journalist grumble about our old website – that getting an expert’s cell number was a two step process of first searching the site, then contacting QW+. There’s never enough time in a newsroom, and journalists have been asking us for more efficient processes.
Q: Please explain how you verify that media people who access the database are legitimate.
A: Just like we vet experts, we have a procedure for vetting media practitioners
- We reverse search names/email addresses against story bylines and sites like LinkedIn and MuckRack (a well-established database of media practitioners).
- We check that their social media profiles match with who they say they are.
- We do random audits to check the organisations they say they are affiliated with.
- If anything does not tie up, we go back to the media person and ask for more information before approving their profile; specifically, we ask if they are working in marketing or PR and ask for references for the stories they are researching.
We will refuse permission if necessary to protect the integrity of the database.
Any other questions? Please reply to this email, or WhatsApp Jordan on 081 243 6653.
If you got this far, you are a hero! Thank you again for all your support – Kath, Jordan and Renee.